Connector housing removal tool

ABSTRACT

A connector tool for removing electrical connector housings from a mounting member wherein little or no clearance space exists between adjacent housing members. The housing contains a slotted opening for insertion of a printed circuit board and has a surface adjacent the opening which limits movement of one end of the contacts contained in the housing. The tool comprises locating fingers for correctly positioning the tool in the housing. The locating fingers normally rest upon the mounting member upon insertion of the tool in the housing. A shaft member having a spring member therein is formed integral with the locating fingers. Pawl members which are inserted in the slotted opening in the housing are movable by means of handles pivotably positioned in the shaft member wherein they grasp a portion of the housing surface. Dowel means are used to interconnect the handles, the dowel means being movable in a slot formed in the shaft.

United States Patent Anhalt Nov. 6, 1973 CONNECTOR HOUSING REMOVAL TOOL [57] ABSTRACT [75] Inventor: John William Anhalt, L Crescenta, A connector tool for removing electrical connector C lifl housings from a mounting member wherein'little or no clearance space exists between adjacent housing mem- [73] Asslgnee' g Teleph ne and k bers. The housing contains a slotted opening for inserorporauon New Yor tion of a printed circuit board and has a surface adjacent the opening which limits movement of one end of [22] Filed: May 26, 1972 the contacts contained in the housing. .The tool comprises locating fingers for correctly positioning the tool [21] Appl' 257098 in the housing. The locating fingers normally rest upon the mounting member upon insertion of the tool in the {52] us. Cl 29/203 H, 29/203 P g- A shaft member h ng a pring member [51] Int. Cl. H05k 3/04 h in i f m in gral wi h th loc ing fingers. [58] Field of Search 29/203 H, 203 HC, Pawl members which are inserted i h slotted p n- 29/203 HM, 203 B, 203 R, 203 P ing in the housing are movable by means of handles pivotably positioned in the shaft member wherein they [56] Referen e Cit d grasp a portion of the housing surface. Dowel means UNITED STATES PATENTS are used to interconnect the handles, the dowel means 3,224,082 12/1965 Moulinmn 29/203 H being movable m a slot formed m the shaft. 3,588,983 6/1971 Hoy 29/203 H 11 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures Primary ExaminerThomas H. Eager Atl0rneyC. Cornell Remsen, Jr. et al.

CONNECTOR HOUSING REMOVAL TOOL The invention relates in general to connector housing removal tools and, more particularly, to a tool which may be inserted in an opening in an electrical connector housing for separating the housing from the mounting board wherein small separation exists between adjacent connector housings. I

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In US. Patent application Ser. No. 199,470, filed on Nov. 17, 1971, US. Pat. No. 3,737,838, there is depicted an electrical connector housing member for use with a printed circuit board connector. In the connector of the foregoing mentioned patent application, a flat mounting member has positioned therein electrical contacts which protrude through openings in the mounting member. The contacts have a mounting portion and a contacting portion extending from the mounting portion and terminating in a free end section. A housing member preloads the electrical contacts at the free end section and is formed of a tip which abuts the contact free end section. The housing member further contains a surface which extends from the tip at an angle with respect to the symmetrical plane of the housing member and at a slight acute angle with respect to the surface of the contact free end section. The housing member free end section and the contact surface are normally adjacent to each other. Printed circuit boards are normally inserted into an opening in the housing member and make electrical connection with the contact in the printed circuit board connector. Normally, it is desirable to have high density arrangements so that a maximimum of electrical connectors are positioned on a mounting member with the surfaces of adjacent connector members being very close to, or abutting the adjacent connector members. Thus, it becomes very difficult to remove one of the connector housing members from the mounting board so as to replace a contact or the housing itself. Typically, when it was necessary to remove the housing, a tool would have to be inserted through the connector housing opening which could possibly damage the housing, the mounting member, or one of the contacts.

In order to overcome the attendant disadvantages of prior art techniques for removal of electrical connector housings from a mounting board wherein adjacent mounting members were close to each other, the present invention provides a tool which may be readily inserted in a connector housing and the housing then removed from the mounting member. The tool allows the housing to be removed from the mounting member with the contacts remaining on the mounting member while simultaneously no damage is done to the housing,

the contact, or the mounting member. The tool is relatively simple and can be manufactured economically.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION opening to a position where the pawls grasp a portion of the surface, will then remove the housing from'the mounting member when movement of the tool in the direction away from the mounting members occurs.

The advantages of the invention, both as to its construction and mode of operation, will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like referenced numerals designate like parts throughout the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, of the connector housing removal tool shown prior to insertion of the tool in one of a plurality of housings;

FIG. 2 is a plane view, partly in section, of the connector tool shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view, partly in section, of the tool of FIG. 2 taken along the line 33;

FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 are views, partly in section, of the tool inserted in a connector housing showing various stages of movement of the tool during removal of the housing from a mounting member;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the contact positioned in the connector housing, taken along the line 77 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the tool positioned in the connector housing taken along the line 8-8 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a tool 12 which is used to remove one of a plurality of connector housing members 14 from a mounting member 16. As can be readily seen, the connector housing members 14 are adjacent each other and may be abutting the side of the adjacent connector housing. In addition, although not shown in the drawings, additional connector housing members 14 may be positioned in a second row adjacent the row depicted in the drawings. Thus, the only way to remove the connector housing 14 from the mounting member 16 is by inserting a tool into the interior of the housing 14 and removing the housing from the mounting member 16.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the tool is shown in greater detail in cross-sectional view and comprises a shaft member 22 having a central opening 24 extending along the longitudinal axis thereof and containing a spring member 26 mounted therein. One end of the shaft 22 is threaded at its outer end 28 and contains a knob 32 which secures the spring in the opening 24 at one end thereof. Referring now to FIG. 3, the other end of the shaft 22 contains a pair of locating fingers 34, 36 which are interconnected'by a crossmember 38 having a downwardly facing shoulder 42 and an upwardly facing shoulder 44. The upwardly facing shoulder 44 fonns the end of a slot formed in the shaft, the other end of the slot being defined by a downwardly facing shoulder 48, the slot 46 extending through the shaft 22 along its entire width. In addition, -a pair of short slots 52, 54 are formed in the shaft 22 intermediate the shoulders 44 and 48 in a plane perpendicular to the slot 46.

Postioned within the slot 46 is a pair of latch handles 62 and 64. The latch handles are mirror images of each other and contain outwardly extending portions 66 and 68 which may have a plastic outer surface 72 and 74 surrounding it for grasping by the fingers of the connector tool operator. Normally, the operator would place his thumb on the top of the knob 32 and two other fingers on the curved surfaces 76 and 78 of the handles 62 and 64, respectively. The top surface of the handles 62 and 64 has a slotted member which forms upwardly facing shoulders 82 and abuts the downwardly facing shoulder 48 of the slot 46 formed in the shaft 22. In addition, the bottom of the spring 26 abuts the upwardly facing shoulders 82 thus confining the spring 26 between the knob 32 and the upwardly facing shoulders 82. In addition, each of the handles 62 and 64 has central body portions 84 and 86 which are positioned within the slot 46 of the shaft and are spaced apart slightly therefrom but are joined together by means of a dowel 88 which rides in the short slots 52 and 54 formed in the shaft. The dowel provides a relative axis for pivotably moving the members 84 and 86 upon movement of the handles 62 and 64 in an upward direction shown in the drawings. In addition, the bottoms of the members 84 and 86 adjacent the upwardly facing shoulder 44 form a pair of pawls 92 and 94, respectively, which extend in opposite directions as shown in the drawings.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the connector housing 14 is shown in cross-sectional view and comprises a generally U-shaped member in cross section. The open end of the U abuts the mounting member 16 and the other end of the U contains a slotted opening 102. As can be seen more clearly in FIG. 8, the connector housing also contains a plurality of transverse partitions 104 having a depressed central slotted opening 106 which terminates at an upwardly facing shoulder 108 interconnecting the transverse members 104. The shoulder 108 forms a stop for printed circuit boards which are inserted through the slotted opening 102 of the connectorhousing. In addition, the partitions 104 are slotted so as to form a downwardly facing shoulder 112. The slots 114 extend only a short distance into the partitions 104 as can be seen in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Electrical contacts 122 are secured to the mounting member 16 by means of a mounting shank portion 124. In addition, an enlarged shoulder section 126 extending upwardly from the mounting member contains an upwardly facing shoulder 128 which abuts the downwardly facing shoulder 112 of the slots 114. The portion 126 forms a tight fit in the slots 114 so as to allow the housing members 14 to be securely positioned on the mounting members 16. Extending upwardly from the section 126 is a contacting portion 132 which contains normally a centrally slotted contact portion 134.

Referring once again to FIG. 4, the slot 102 is defined by inner surface walls 144 which are connected to adjacent portions of the top wall by means of a beveled surface 146. The inner surface 148 of the top wall is consuch that two contact cavities separate the fingers 34 and 36. As can be seen by the dotted line in FIG. 4, the fingers 34 and 36 will abut the mounting member 16 at its top surface. In addition, the pawls 92 and 94 are spaced so that they will fit into the two contact cavities separating the fingers 34 and 36 as is clearly shown in FIG. 8. Once the fingers have been inserted into the housing in the manner shown in FIG. 4, the handles 62 and 64 are pivoted upwardly causing the pawls 92 and. 94 to each abut against the tips 152 of the housing and interlock with the tips. Further movement of the handles 62 and 64 causes the pawls 92 and 94 to move upwardly in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 6 until .the dowel 88 abuts the top surface of slots 52 and 54 causing the housing 14 to separate from the contacts 122. Then the handles 62 and 64 can be moved downwardly allowing the tool to be removed from the connector housing 14. The connector housing, once separated from the contacts 122, can be readily removed.

It should be noted that the spring member 26 holds the pawls in the correct position and simultaneously forces the pawls to rotate about an axis formed by the dowel. In addition, while the connector housing has been shown as having an angular inner surface adjacent the slot 102, it should be noted that other surfaces can be utilized with the tool so long as there is a surface which can be gripped by the pawls once the handles are moved into the position shown in FIG. 5. For example, surface 154 need not be angularly shaped.

It should be further understood that the foregoing disclosure relates only to the preferred embodiments of the invention, and it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the examples of the invention herein chosen for the purpose of this disclosure which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A connector tool for removing electrical connector housings from a mounting member wherein said housing contains a slotted opening for insertion of a printed circuit board, said housing having a surface adjacent said opening which limits movement of one end of the connector contacts, said tool comprising:

a shaft;

locating fingers on one end of said shaft for correctly positioning the tool in the housing;

a pair of handles pivotally mounted about anaxis extending laterally through said shaft above said fingers;

pawl members formed on said handles for insertion in said slotted opening in said housing;

said pawl members once inserted in said opening being spread apart to grasp a portion of said surface by pivotal movement of said handles; and

movement of said tool in a direction away from said mounting member causing said housing to be removed from said mounting member.

2. A connector tool in accordance with claim 1 wherein said locating fingers rest upon the mounting member upon insertion of said tool in the housing.

3. A connector tool in accordance with claim 1 wherein dowel means are used to pivotally mount said handles on said shaft, said dowel means being movable in a slot formed in said shaft.

4. A connector tool as set forth in claim 1 including spring means biasing said pawl members toward one another.

5. A connector tool as set forth in claim 1 wherein said locating fingers are positioned on opposite sides of said pawl members, and said fingers and pawl members are spaced from each other equal distances to allow said fingers and pawl members to be inserted into spaced apart contact compartments in the connector housing.

6. A connector tool for removing electrical connector housings from a mounting member comprising:

a shaft;

a pair of handles pivotally mounted about an axis extending laterally through said shaft, each handle having a lower'portion extending below said axis and an upper portion extending laterally from said shaft;

oppositely extending pawls formed on said lower portions of said handles; and

lifting of said handles initially causing said pawls to spread apart for engagement with a surface of the connector housing, and thereafter removing said housing from said mounting member.

7. A connector tool as set forth in claim 6 including:

a slot extending lengthwise in said shaft, said handles being pivotally mounted in said slot.

8. A connector as set forth in claim 7 including:

a spring in said shaft engaging said handles to bias said pawls toward one another.

9. A connector as set forth in claim 7 including:

a second slot extending lengthwise in said handle in a plane perpendicular to said first-mentioned slot; and

a dowel movable lengthwise in said second slot, said handles being pivotally mounted on said dowel.

10. A connector as set forth in claim 9 wherein:

a bore is formed in said shaft on the side of said handles opposite to said pawls; and

a spring is provided in said bore engaging the upper portions of said handles to bias said pawls toward each other.

11. A connector as set forth in claim 6 including:

locating fingers on said shaft for correctly positioning the tool in the connector housing. 

1. A connector tool for removing electrical connector housings from a mounting member wherein said housing contains a slotted opening for insertion of a printed circuit board, said housing having a surface adjacent said opening which limits movement of one end of the connector contacts, said tool comprising: a shaft; locating fingers on one end of said shaft for correctly positioning the tool in the housing; a pair of handles pivotally mounted about an axis extending laterally through said shaft above said fingers; pawl members formed on said handles for insertion in said slotted opening in said housing; said pawl members once inserted in said opening being spread apart to grasp a portion of said surface by pivotal movement of said handles; and movement of said tool in a direction away from said mounting member causing said housing to be removed from said mounting member.
 2. A connector tool in accordance with claim 1 wherein said locating fingers rest upon the mounting member upon insertion of said tool in the housing.
 3. A connector tool in accordance with claim 1 wherein dowel means are used to pivotally mount said handles on said shaft, said dowel means being movable in a slot formed in said shaft.
 4. A connector tool as set forth in claim 1 including spring means biasing said pawl members toward one another.
 5. A connector tool as set forth in claim 1 wherein said locating fingers are positioned on opposite sides of said pawl members, and said fingers and pawl members are spaced from each other equal distances to allow said fingers and pawl members to be inserted into spaced apart contact compartments in the connector housing.
 6. A connector tool for removing electrical connector housings from a mounting member comprising: a shaft; a pair of handles pivotally mounted about an axis extending laterally through said shaft, each handle having a lower portion extending below said axis and an upper portion extending laterally from said shaft; oppositely extending pawls formed on said lower portions of said handles; and lifting of said handles initially causing said pawls to spread apart for engagement with a surface of the connector housing, and thereafter removing said housing from said mounting member.
 7. A connector tool as set forth in claim 6 including: a slot extending lengthwise in said shaft, said handles being pivotally mounted in said slot.
 8. A connector as set forth in claim 7 including: a spring in said shaft engaging said handles to bias said pawls toward one another.
 9. A connector as set forth in claim 7 including: a second slot extending lengthwise in said handle in a plane perpendicular to said first-mentioned slot; and a dowel movable lengthwise in said second slot, said handles being pivotally mounted on said dOwel.
 10. A connector as set forth in claim 9 wherein: a bore is formed in said shaft on the side of said handles opposite to said pawls; and a spring is provided in said bore engaging the upper portions of said handles to bias said pawls toward each other.
 11. A connector as set forth in claim 6 including: locating fingers on said shaft for correctly positioning the tool in the connector housing. 